


Honor, Courage And Rectitude

by traipsingexodus



Series: Homunculus [11]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: Action, Blood and Gore, Castelia City, Crime Fighting, Hunters & Hunting, Isshu-chihou | Unova, Organized Crime, Revenge, Trainer/Pokemon Dynamics, Urban Fantasy, Vigilantism
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-26
Updated: 2019-02-11
Packaged: 2019-03-09 13:51:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 20,906
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13482810
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/traipsingexodus/pseuds/traipsingexodus
Summary: Beaten Castelia groans under the weight of corpses, as the fallen crime families that grew fat on her shoulders pile up. Daniel Winters and his bisharp, Charles, arrive to answer an old friend's request, and cut the last head from a hydra in its death throes. With the help of a zoroark chasing a new day in the light after a lifetime in the shadows, the three prepare to face the scattered forces of a wounded city's warring criminal elements, and carve a path to the last head of the beast: Dylan Morrissey, a man who turned his back on the burning city and went chasing game more dangerous than man.[Direct sequel to Au Coup Par Coup]





	1. Cheap Whiskey

This was the time she got drunk. Like clockwork - not quite alcoholism, Evelynn reasoned, so much as  _escapism._  With a sleepy grin, she sagged in her chair and tilted the end of the bottle into her mouth, a quarter of it spilling out along the sides of her muzzle and onto the bar. She forced herself to sit upright and poured the contents of the entire bottle down her throat. It was foul, cheap whiskey. Her favorite.

A weavile lounging in a beanbag chair nearby scoffed. " **Why do you drink that shit?"**  needled Chastity.

Evelynn let out a long, hot sigh and pulled wayward strands of hair away from her face. " **Burns like wanderlust, Chast. 'N it goes down easy enough. Just like nostalgia,** " she replied. She glanced at the bottle and with a dismissive  _tch_ , tossed it into a nearby pile behind the bar. " **And I'm out of it before I really start. Typical.** " She swung a leg over the other and crossed her arms, pouting. " **Say, Chast-** "

The weavile took a long drag from the strange device next to her and blew a plume of brilliant green smoke in the direction of the zoroark. " **Fuck no.** "

Evelynn shifted into a weavile herself, the spitting image of Chastity and replied in a mocking tone, " **Fuck no. I'm Chastity. I hoard booze and the weird shit I smoke and never ever share-** "

" **Ladies, please. Now's not the time fer cat-fights.** " The scrafty grinned in spite of himself and sat down next at the meager bar beside Evelynn. " **You alrigh'? Yer lookin' more down each day, Eve.** "

" **It's nothing, Oliver. Nothing you don't already know about,** " she replied. She shifted back into a zoroark and slumped against the bar.

" **Well if that old fire's burnin' again and got yeh wantin' to leave, can't say I'd stop yeh. I like yeh, Eve, but...well, hell, you already know. Never been one for tyin' folks down,** " supplied Oliver.

" **You're not tying her down, Oliver, trust me,** " sneered Chastity. She sat up in her beanbag chair and swept her arms across the room. She gestured at the tiny bar with precious few bottles stocking the shelves, the dingy tables obscured by a haze of green smoke, and the mounds of litter tucked here and there into rough piles. " **We've all got more time than work. Business ain't booming and our shithole-in-the-ground is suffering for it. And so's she. Guess dark and dingy doesn't mash to well with this fairy over here.** "

Evelynn growled and stood up. " **I'm glad we haven't had any fucking work, Chast. I'm sick of it. Have you seen my last "haul"?** " She gestured to the cloth bag sitting beside the strange smoking apparatus adorning the table beside the weavile.

" **Yeah, I saw your last "haul", as you called it. Enough to get us by for quite some time. Months, at least. A year if we're stingy,** " she replied. She rummaged in the bag and pulled out a glittering golden watch and wrinkled her nose. " **Bit of blood on the face. You do something to the previous owner?** "

Evelynn ruffled her mane of hair and let out a howl of frustration. " **No, you dense bitch, I didn't fucking hurt anyone. I found a twitching pile of dead gangsters out near where I usually pick up a score. No one had looted them because they'd all shot and stabbed each other.** "

Chastity frowned and tossed the watch back into the bag. " **Guess you'd better arrange a trip out to a nearby town and-** "

The zoroark scoffed. " **Oh, fuck this. It doesn't bother you in the slightest that I pulled it off a bunch of dead gangsters? At all?** "

The weavile took another drag and then blew out a long, thin stream of smoke before finally saying, " **Fuck 'em. Their loss, our g-** "

" **Castelia is burning down all a-fucking-round us, Chastity. And you're content to- forget it. I'm cracking the good shit tonight."**  At this, Evelynn set off into the corner of their dingy basement-turned apartment. It was owned by a curious woman who didn't talk much, but always seemed to have enough to pay rent. It was enough to keep the proprietors of the complex from asking questions about the random pokemon that would appear at her door, and for that, Evelynn was grateful. She disliked using human speech, good as she was at it.

She rummaged beneath the couch that doubled as her bed in the corner of the room and rummaged beneath it for her bottle of "the good shit."  _There it is. Dusty, but still good._  She popped the cap off and took a swig. After months of cheap whiskey, it was better.  _Far_  better. Several swigs later, the room had taken on a spin, and rocked unevenly back and forth, the dim lights now bright blurs that left spots in her eyes. Her sleepy grin did not return, however, and instead her thoughts turned to that hated place of hers,  _what-if._

_What if I'd just left? Struck out. Braved the world. Kinda like how he did. Maybe he didn't have a choice._

_What if I just left now? Bit drunk, might end up in a_ compromising  _situation, but I'm no stranger to that._

_What if...what if anything? Anything good, yeah? Anything that wasn't this. Kind Oliver and bitchy Chastity. Absent, thieving, conniving, gentlemanly Roderick. And quiet Yosef. Where were those two anyway? Off on a score of their own? No one's swung by to ask us for work, I've had to go out- oh. Someone's here. Feh. Chastity'll take care of it._

Evelynn regarded the shadowed figure that had entered the room with mild disinterest and instead poured a drink than swig directly from the bottle, in an effort to look more "presentable".  _Another pokemon here to lick our boots?_  She sighed and her thoughts turned to back to  _him_.  _Where are you? What are you up to? Are...you even alive?_  She took a swig from her glass and winced as the alcohol burned its way down her throat.  _Thought you had the wrong idea but now-_

The smoke around the figure cleared and produced the form of a bisharp. His intense eyes and ramrod gait hadn't changed a bit - but there behind his eyes, Eve saw it.  _Grief._

Her mouth fell open, and for a moment the misdirection around her snout failed - she rushed to mask it by (only partially) feigning surprise and bringing her hands up to cover it. She stood, knocking her table aside and the expensive liquor upon it to the ground with a crash. The room began to spin very rapidly, and she became painfully aware of just how much whiskey she'd downed. She swayed on the spot and mumbled, awestruck, " **Charles?** "

The bisharp looked at her - his eyes softened and the ghost of a smile appeared on the corner of his lips. He nodded.

She stumbled her way over to him, stopping now and again to catch herself against the various chairs, makeshift beds and furnishing that peppered the basement, and at last collapsed against Charles' shoulder with a grunt. She composed herself immediately after, and stood up straight, trying with all her might to avoid swaying. " **So. You're back. Life in the light not pan out for you?** " she asked in what she hoped was a casual tone.

Charles snorted. " **Drunk? Odd. Didn't take you for one. Recent?** " He caught Oliver's eye and gave him a swift smirk and a nod. Eve noticed that, despite standing next to Chastity, Charles had chosen to ignore her.

Clearly, Chastity had noticed as well, because the weavile cleared her throat loudly and interjected, " **Yeah, it's recent. Every night it's the same thing. Now, you gonna tell me what you're doing here? Clearly it's not to chat, way you flat out ignored-** "

" **Stick your pipe in it, Chast,** " interrupted Evelynn, putting a hand to one hip and pointing accusingly at the weavile with the other. " **We get you're all bent out of shape because he didn't say hi, but you didn't go out on friendly terms last he was here, so what'd you expect? It's** _ **Charles**_ **.** "

" **Who's to say I'm not ready to forgive and forget?** " replied Chastity, looking taken aback.

" **Did ol' Arc himself come to you in a dream or somethin'? Tell you it's time fer a new start as a more friendly, less bitchy and cutthroat weavile?** " asked Oliver, a smile dancing across his lips and a chuckle in his throat.

" **Not a bad idea. Knew a weavile,** " added Charles, glancing over at Chastity. He flicked up to the plumage on her head and he shook his head. " **Evil.** " He turned back to Evelynn and gave her a smirk. " **Here to check in. And ask a favor.** "

" **A favor? You waltz in, don't show me the proper respect and then tell me to fix** _ **my**_   **attitude? Piss off,** " hissed Chastity. She stood and stomped over to a large pile of cushions that acted as her bed and threw herself into them. " **Show him the fuck out, Oliver. Now.** "

The scrafty rolled his eyes and hopped off his stool. " **She's in one of her moods. Lemme show ya out, Charlie. Best come back later if yer wantin' help.** " He strode up the stairs that led them out of the basement and into the alleyway access door. " **Mmm, she always gets like this whenever someone tells her to stick it. Good on ya, Charlie. Good on ya. Forgets herself sometimes.** "

Charles nodded and asked, " **Need help soon. Not later. Not interested?** "

Oliver shook his head. " **Aw hell, Charlie, I can't go and leave Chastity behind like that. Goes to pieces alone.** "

Evelynn squashed a chuckle against her hand and mumbled, " **You know, humans call that 'pussy-whipped.'** "

The scrafty rolled his eyes, but smiled nevertheless. " **Good to see I'm not the only one willin' to make cat puns,** " he replied, " **but it might as well be true, Charlie. No help I can go offerin' right now. Sorry bud.** "

Charles nodded again and gave Evelynn a swift smile and a nod. " **Understood. Have to find other means. Pleasure seeing you both again.** " He gave them both a quick wave and then turned about to leave.

Oliver sighed. " **Pity, eh, Eve?** " A loud shout echoed in the alley from out of the basement. " **And there she goes, yappin' orders at me. Comin', Eve? Or you gonna air out?** "

Evelynn turned back to look at Charles. " **Air out,** " she replied. She heard Oliver trudge down the steps and stumbled after Charles immediately after. " **Charles!** "

The bisharp turned about and his eyes widened as he saw Evelynn approach. Again, she stumbled her way to him and silently cursed how much whiskey she'd soaked herself in as she nearly tripped into him. " **You need help, right?** " she asked, no longer attempting to control her swaying.

Charles frowned. " **Yes. So do you. Drunk. Not a time to make decisions,** " he said, his tone blunt. He crossed his arms and tilted his head. " **Get some rest. Need it.** "

Evelynn cross her arms and bared her teeth in a low growl. "' **M not always a drunken mess, you know.** " She sighed and shook her head, then added, " **I'm in a bad way, but I'm not that drunk. This whole 'drunken zoroark' thing is a recent change.** "

The bisharp cocked his head. " **Explain.** "

" **Never were one for words, huh?** " she asked, a smile curling on the edge of her lips. " **Charles, I want to get out of this life. Chast doesn't care, Oliver's basically her handler, and Yosef and Roderick are just content to follow her. Room and board for being hired assholes is a good job for a bunch of ferals.** " She rolled her eyes at the term. It bothered her, necessary as it was. " **But if work dries up in the wake of all this gang fighting then we are going to find ourselves out of food and on the streets and we've gotten a bit...soft. At least as far as street life is concerned. I dunno if-** "

Charles took a step forward and grabbed hold of her muzzle to clamp it shut. He tilted her head down and stared her in the eyes with piercing, beady black gaze of his own. " **Rambling. Eve doesn't ramble. Truth. Now.** "

Evelynn's ears drooped and she averted her eyes. She reached up and gently removed his arm from her snout and mumbled, " **I'm tired of life in the shadows, Charles.** " She raised her gaze up to look him in the face. " **When you left I thought… I thought you were crazy. It wasn't really your decision I guess, it was your trainer's but, even then, you were so willing to just skip out and-"**  She quailed under his stern gaze and shook her head to try to clear it.

" **I want to be good, Charles. I want to do the right thing.** " She ran a hand through her long mane of hair, and then reached down towards the curious gold ring she'd threaded the end of her hair through into her hands and looked down at it. " **For once. I'm tired of my old life.** " She stared him in the eyes. " **Please let me help.** "

Charles stared back for a moment then turned around. " **Follow.** "

* * *

Daniel flicked his cigarette down toward the other end of the alley and rolled his neck. The soft  _crick crack_  of relief sounded in his ears and he sighed. "Taking way fucking longer than he needs to," he grumbled. He turned around and banged on the sturdy metal door behind him thrice. "Locke. Locke, you secretive fuck, hurry your ass up, I haven't got all day."

The peep-slat in the door slid aside and revealed the bloodshot green eyes of Locke. "I was just finishing up, you impatient prick. Come in, come in," he rasped. The sound of several locks clicking open rang out, then a pause, then the loud metallic  _thunk_  of what Daniel imagined was some kind of intense magnetic lock rose in the air. The door swung open and admitted the detective into the dingy, poorly lit room.

The squat frame of Locke waddled his way over to behind a counter and he heaved himself into a seat with a series of groans. With an almost disinterested swat of his hand, he slapped a large red button attached to a controller that dangled down from the ceiling, and the metal grating behind him rolled aside and revealed a wall brimming with weapons. Locke pulled a cigarette from the ashtray upon the counter up to his lips and inhaled, a weak red cherry springing to life in the poor light as he did so, and coughed out, "What did you fuckin' want?"

Daniel grinned. "I came by to say hi, Locke. Can't an old friend just swing by and have a chat?" he asked innocently.

Locke waved the smoke from his face and coughed, then chuckled and coughed again. "Your smooth talking ekans-in-the-grass lies won't get you a fuckin' discount, Winters." He studied the man for a moment and pulled on a pair of grimy half-moon spectacles. "Bah, but I guess I'll give you a discount for coming back to me after so much time away. Coulda gone to Geoff's, you know."

The detective pulled up a stool and sat himself at the counter. "Geoff's dead."

The squat man took a long drag from his cigarette and then flicked its tail of ash into the tray and exhaled out of the corner of his mouth. "You called him first?"

"No. I called you first. You didn't answer. Geoff didn't either. Got his son instead. Kid didn't sound old enough to take up his father's, uh,  _profession_ , so I gave him my condolences and fucked off right over to here. Glad to see you haven't kicked the bucket yet."

"Cancer sticks'll do me in before any of the fuckin' gangs of this godsforsaken city do. Business is booming and I get a front row seat to watching the fuckin' world come to an end."

Daniel pointed at the wall behind Locke and said, "That one. Folding stock. Short, threaded barrel. A rail to slap an optic on. Looks like all I'll need."

Locke looked taken aback and turned in his stool to glance at the rifle. "Yeah, that's fine. Extra mags?"

"Six. And a carrier. Two cases of ammo."

"Hold on, hotshot, you haven't told me what you're chambering the rifle-"

"Inter-region compact standard. That's the first case of ammo. Second case is for this." He pulled his pistol out from under his jacket and laid it on the table. "Forty cal."

"Mmm. Alright. Rifle. Two cases. Carrier. Plate or-"

"Plate. Dual purpose. Took a nasty stab in the back while I was in Kalos."

"Dual purpose rig? Those don't come cheap, Winters, you sure-"

"I've got the fuckin' scratch for it. Rifle. Two cases. DP Carrier. Six mags. Send it here," he explained, and slid a piece of paper across the counter towards Locke. "Charge this." He pulled a credit chit from his pocket and laid it flat on the table.

Locke rang up the transaction and lowered his spectacles to peer at the screen as it processed. "You weren't fuckin' kiddin' Winters. These chits don't come cheap and the kinda paper you've got on this…where'd you come up on-"

"I don't want to talk about it. Nothing illegal, I can assure you," replied Daniel shortly. "Honestly, the way I got it, wish it had been."

Locke said nothing, and instead dug around in a box behind the counter and pulled a vest up and laid it on the counter before Daniel. "Dual purpose lining. Adds bulk, but you get a nice compromise: bullets and angry pokemon. And you can throw some extra plates here and there for additional protection of your choosing." He watched Daniel put the vest and and tweak and adjust here and there. "Good?"

"What I need. Mag pouches. Rifle and handgun. Toss those in with this," said Daniel. He pulled the vest off and laid it on the counter again.

The arms dealer set the carrier aside and picked the credit chit up, examining it with sharp eyes before laying it flat on the counter. "Winters. What are you doing here?" asked Locke, sliding the chit back across the table along with a small coded print out.

"I don't know yet. I find out tomorrow," he replied. He rose from his stool and picked up the chit and print out, then holstered his pistol.

Locke's eyes widened. "Then why the rifle? The body armor? The ammo? Winters,  _what the hell are you doing?_ "

Daniel threw the door open, filling the stuffy room with blazing sunlight. "Checking in on old friends." He slammed the door shut behind him, leaving Locke in the dying light of his shop.

* * *

Daniel unlocked the door into his hotel room and was surprised to find Charles sitting cross legged on the floor in the center of the room, his head bowed in meditation. The detective cleared his throat pointedly. "Staring down a long barrel there, are ya, Charles?"

The bisharp opened his eyes and looked up at his friend. He nodded twice and then stood. He raised a gauntleted hand and pointed at Daniel's bedroom door.

Daniel entered his hotel bedroom and looking at the sleeping figure obscured by blankets. He crept closer and saw the telltale red mane of hair and dark fur of a zoroark. "How the fuck do you tell them apart anyway? Chick or a dude?" Charles grunted once to signal the former.

"Charles, we're here to get some dirty shit done, not get you laid," noted Daniel, staring down at the sleeping zoroark in his bed. "Admittedly, still dirty shit I guess but - gods, she stinks. What the fuck is that? Whiskey?"

The bisharp nodded once. He pointed to the zoroark, then to himself, then do Daniel and then finally rapped his knuckles against the palm of his hand three times in quick succession before pointing out the door.

"What?" asked Daniel, his brow furrowed. "We taking her somewhere or…" Charles shook his head and tapped his trainer's pocket insistently. He mimicked opening a booklet and leafing through it. "Oh," said Daniel, pulling the book he kept Tanaka's picture and the instructions he needed to meet with him. "What does Hideo have to do with- you motherfucker. She's coming with us, isn't she?"

Charles nodded.

"No wonder you wanted to head off on your own for a bit. You  _never_  ask to do that unless you're brewing some kinda plan in that knife-tipped head of yours." Daniel groaned and sat himself in the chair. "Well, wake her the fuck up so I can-" A knock rang out from the other room. "Fuck, Locke works quickly. Get her up and bring her out." He rose and strode out of his bedroom to the living room and kitchenette of his suite and then made his way to the door that led out to the hallway of the hotel. He peered through the peephole and saw a man wearing a backpack and clutching two black cases - one long and thin, the other squat and fat.

Daniel pulled his pistol from his underarm holster and tucked it and his right hand behind his back, then opened the door. He opened his mouth to greet the man but was cut off.

"Slip," said the man.

Daniel closed his mouth and handed him the coded slip of paper Locke had given him back at his shop. The man pulled a strange scanning device from his pocket, clicked a button on it and ran a thin red light across the paper. A loud beep issued form it. Daniel opened his mouth again. He was cut off again.

"Locke's Hardware Supply. Heard youse needed nails and a hammer," said the man, his tone gruff and deep. He handed Daniel the thin case. "Hammer." He then handed him the fatter case. "Nails. Two kinds. Got yer long nails, yer short nails, nails for every occasion, ya know? Also, 'fore I forget, you'll need yourself your tool belt and the extra loops and pockets that comes with it." He pulled the backpack off and dumped it at his feet. "Keep that backpack, I got tons. Free gift, you know? Alright, I'm outta here." At that, the man turned and left.

Daniel closed the door behind him and bolted it shut, then holstered his pistol. He hauled the cases up onto the counter in the kitchenette and opened the long and thin one first to reveal his rifle, a cleaning kit, CQB optics and a spare magazine; the rest were likely sitting in the bag. He pulled the rifle free and shouldered it. It was comfortable enough, though he realized it would be decidedly awkward to fire with the stock folded. He replaced the rifle and opened the thicker case to reveal two metal cases of ammunition.

"Having fun, Daniel?" asked an accented voice across the room. Daniel pulled his pistol free and aimed it directly at the source of the sound.

An attractive woman with curiously red hair that ran from her in messy waves and bright purple eyes stared back at him. Her fair skin was spotted lightly with freckles and her mouth was curved into a knowing smile. She was buxom.  _Extremely_  buxom.

Daniel's gaze hardened. "Fucking zoroarks," he grumbled. "I'm checking my gear. Name." It was a command.

The woman's smile broadened. "That's not how this works," she said, her tone flirtatious. She stood, revealing a thin waist and wide hips. Her legs were unnaturally long and her skirt was nearly too short. She brought her hands up underneath her heavy breasts and lifted them. "You're supposed to be-"

"I'm supposed to be fucking nothing, because I'm taken.  _Name,"_  spat Daniel, his pistol still trained on the woman.

The woman frowned. A flash of light filled the room, and she now resembled a shorter, notably lacking and frumpier looking version of the previous woman. Her eyes were brown now, the curiously red nature of her hair had given way to plain ginger and her mouth was turned into a pouty frown. "No fun at all. Must be where Charles gets it from," she grumbled.

"I. Said.  _Name._ "

She rolled her eyes. "Oh, for the love of the gods themselves, it's Evelynn.  _Happy?_ " She shook her head and added, her tone filled with flirtatious lightness again. "But you can just call me  _Eve._ " She flashed him a wide grin and revealed canines slightly too long and pointed for a human.

"Nice teeth. Might want to work on that," he replied. "Didn't think you'd still be alive. Charles mentioned you were sad to see him go a couple of years ago."

She averted her eyes and threw a leg over the other. "Charles is one to talk. He was less than happy to see me go as well," she huffed.

Daniel gave her a single, sharp laugh and then called out, "Charles! The fuck is taking you, I nearly blew this fox's head off." His pokemon appeared in the doorway from his bedroom a moment later, his face set in a frown. An inquisitive growl rose in the air. "The hell were you doing?"

"He was meditating some more I think," replied Evelynn, "it's what he said he was going to do before I took a nap. Probably wondering if bringing me was really a good idea." She grinned and flicked her gaze to the bisharp. "I have skills you could make great use of, if what Charles told me is anything to go off of. Big fan of not looking like yourself, aren't you?"

"Feh. Had to keep Kalosian police from finding out what I really look like. Was also trying to duck unwanted attention from some choice folk here in Castelia. Going to meet one of them tomorrow, actually." He stood up and crossed his arms. "The fuck do you want to help for?"

"I've got my reasons and they align just fine with yours, whatever they are, I can assure you."

"Nuh-uh. Not how this works. Why are you doing this?"

Eve's eyes narrowed. "Why are  _you_  doing this?"

With a scoff, Daniel waved the question away. "I'm trying to do some good in the world. The fuck would a zoroark know about-"

" _That's exactly what I'm trying to do myself, asshole_ ," shrieked Evelynn. The illusion around her body dissipated and she pounced towards Daniel, landing soundlessly on what little space the counter afforded her. Daniel made for his pistol, but she seized his collar and pulled him closer to her face and just out of reach of it. With another flash of light, she took on the appearance of a dark haired woman with bloodshot, baggy eyes and pale skin. "Don't you ever fucking act like I'm not. I can do things you've never  _dreamed_  of. Take my help and be appreciative." She let him go and hopped down from the counter. "You, of all people, stereotyping a dark-type." She shook her head and made her way to the bedroom, the illusion dissolving into a zoroark again. A single word met Daniel's ears, but he did not understand it.

Charles watched her stalk past thim then turned back to look at Daniel and shook his head twice.

Daniel strode over to his friend and sighed. "We don't know what we're going to have to do yet, but, well, I can't exactly deny that having someone on our side with her abilities wouldn't be useful as all hell." He tapped his foot. "You think it'll be worth it?" he asked.

The bisharp nodded once.

"She any good in a fight?" asked Daniel. Seeing Charles shake his head, he added, "But she can stay out of a fight easy enough right?" Another nod. "I don't remember ever working with her, only watching you say goodbye. She ever help us out?"

Charles smirked.

"She was just disguised the whole time, wasn't she?"

Charles' smirk widened into a genuine smile.

With a sigh, Daniel strode into the other room, and found Evelynn standing in the center of his bedroom, her hands on her hips and her teeth bared into a grin. Lights danced behind her eyes and a muffled chuckle caught in her throat.

"Was that an act? Are you both just fucking with me?" he asked, his face set in an expression caught somewhere between exasperation and amusement.

With a flash of light, Evelynn was the buxom woman again. She pressed her arms closely to her sides and bent forward, a pout on her lips. "Oh, I'll never tell, Daniel. Maybe you touched a nerve, maybe you didn't," she cooed.

With a roll of his eyes, Daniel turned about and mumbled, "We're meeting our contact tomorrow. Dress down." His eyes stuck for a moment on her chest and he shook his head. "Way down." He strode out of the room, back to the kitchenette and pulled his plate carrier from the backpack he'd been delivered. Magazines were tucked into the holding pouches, with several more pouches still empty, some sized for handgun mags. He flicked his finger against the chestplate.

_Hell of a welcome home this is gonna be._

* * *

A light blinked on the phone on Morrissey's desk and with a sniff, he wiped his nose. "That'll be Jess. We're done here, Roland. You've got the terms and I've got the manpower. I expect those warehouses torched by nightfall," explained Morrissey. His eyes drifted to the pile of powder on his desk and then flicked back to the pale-faced man sitting across from him.

"D-Dylan, please be reasonable about this, why am I torching my warehouses? I sell you shit from them, this doesn't make any sense," replied Roland. His eyes flicked around the room, to the guards that stood in each corner behind Morrissey's desk, and then back to the red-haired man before him. "What-"

"Listen here, you two-timing son of a bitch," spat Morrissey, "I know exactly what the fuck you've been doing. Double dipping cowardly faggot. No one sells to both sides of the line in my city, burning to the fucking ground or not." He pulled a switchblade from his pocket and piled pillowy white powder onto it and snorted it. "Especially not some two-bit smuggler like you. You're gonna burn those warehouses and operate out of mine or I'll cut your cock off and feed it to you."

With a loud gulp, Roland stuttered, "D-D-Dylan, listen to yourself man, I'm not two-timing you, those deals were before all this shit hap-"

Morrissey slammed his hands on the table and roared, "No, they FUCKING weren't, you slimy little CUNT." He stood and strode around his desk to Roland and put the blade to his throat. A small trickle of blood ran from his nose, and wild rage burned in his bloodshot eyes. "Burn those fucking warehouses, Dylan, or I'll feed you to my fucking haxorus." He pulled a gilded ball from his belt and tossed it into the open space beside them. With a roar that shook the window panes and rattled the desk, chairs and shelves of books around them, a dragon materialized and stared with dripping jaws at Roland. A soft croon issued from its gullet and Dylan gave it a fond pat on the head.

"I  _implore_  you to listen, Rol. Hack likes to play with his food." His hand shifted to the blades that jutted from each side of its jaw and ran his thumb across the broad side of one of them. "Do you understand me?" he asked, his voice now a deadly whisper.

"Dylan, please, I can get you whatever you need, but this'll ruin me, man, don't do thi-" With a sound like a dry heave, Roland's eyes widened and he glanced down at his stomach, where Morrissey had buried his switchblade to the hilt.

"Just had to fucking listen, you stupid fuck, just had to FUCKING LISTEN," he said, his tone rising into a manic shout. He stabbed Roland again. Again. Again. Again. He pulled his switchblade loose and tossed it onto the table with a clatter and then wiped his hands on the man's clothing. "Fucking dumbass." He strode back to his seat to the sounds of Roland sobbing. "Hack. Dinner."

As he watched his haxorus bite a considerable portion of the screaming man before him off, Morrissey reached over to his phone and clicked a button, then pulled the receiver to his ear. "Speak."

"We got her," said the voice on the other end. Morrissey's frown transformed slowly into a grin.

"Oh?"

"Yes, sir. She's on the reserve. No source of water larger than one foot by one foot by one foot is accessible to her."

Morrissey stood and snapped his fingers, and his guards moved to his side immediately. Hack looked up from the bloody mess of a meal that lay upon the ground in front of him and crooned again. "Hack, finish up. Gentlemen, I want this fuckface's warehouses burned. I want my helo fueled. And I want Agnes and Annabelle. The North Wind awaits."


	2. Fine Sushi

Daniel rubbed his eyes and stared into the bathroom mirror. He wagered that it was no later than six in the morning. With a groan, he splashed cold water into his face and rubbed the last bits of crust from his eyes. He dried himself off and turned to pull his shirt from the coat-hanger on the door. As he turned about again, his eyes caught the large scar where Karan had impaled him with an icicle and grinned in spite of himself.  _Guess life's gonna get started on fucking up my back now._  He pulled his shirt on and rubbed his chest through it, the raised bumps of the numerous scars and gunshot wounds pushing through the fabric against his fingers.  _Or maybe it'll just go back to carving me up from the front._

A low growl filled the bathroom. "Couldn't sleep?" he asked his reflection. A soft hum. "Same. I'll admit, Charles, I'm a bit worried. Meeting's today. Could be a set-up, you know?" A harsh growl of concern reached his ears. "You're a walking switchblade and I'm a fast draw, I think we should be fine if it's a trap. But, I dunno. I'm feeling just a bit hopeful that it's not. Like maybe trusting that police officer was a good idea." He turned to meet his bisharp's gaze at last and grinned. "First time for everything, right?"

Charles shrugged and turned his head towards the living room. He frowned and then turned back to look at Daniel.

"You wanted her here. Don't tell me you're pussing out," he said seriously. Charles' frown deepened and he crossed his arms. With a grunt, he shook his head and then shrugged, then looked at Daniel meaningfully. "Unsure?" The two stared at one another for several seconds before Charles finally nodded.

"Aren't we all."

With a sigh and grunt Charles fiddled with the leather necklace he wore.

Daniel watched him run his finger across the portion that thickened into a sort of pendant and furrowed his brow. "That thing's covered in blood, Charles, why the hell did you take it from that fucking knifecat?" he asked.  _Bit of an odd trophy to have. If it's even a trophy._  The bisharp pulled the pendant from around his neck and stared down at it in his palm. A long silence stretched out between the two, and Daniel frowned. "Charles? You alright?" He stepped up to his friend and put a hand to Charles' shoulder - he was shuddering. With a start, the pokemon snapped out of his trance and looked up at Daniel, his mouth set in a thin frown. His hands clenched the pendant tightly in a fist and he sighed.

Charles looped the pendant back around his neck and left Daniel with a small grunt and a vague gesture towards the living room.

Daniel watched his friend retreat away and shook his head, incredulous.  _The fuck?_

* * *

Evelynn groaned as something shook her awake, then swatted something heavy, cold and metal away from her shoulder. Her eyes flew open in pain and she yelped.  **"Ouch, ouch, ouch!"**  She clutched her paw and grit her teeth and looked blearily towards the thing she smacked - the fuzzy shape of bisharp began to sharpen in her eyes and with a long, breathy sigh, she brushed hair from her face and muttered,  **"Sorry. I forgot- I didn't- I was drunk yesterday. Messes with your memory a bit."**  She sat up proper in the couch and stretched, yawning all the while.

With a playful grin, she reached down and pulled the chainmail mat Charles slept on and set it up next to her on the couch, then patted the freshly armored cushion.  **"Sit down, tell me what you dreamed about, Charles."** She tugged on the bisharp's arm and with a groan of resignation, he sat down. She succumbed to a fit of giggles before regaining her composure and asking,  **"Oooh, did you dream about me? About** ** _us_** **, maybe? You remember the good ol' days, right? Me disguised as a human and Daniel none the wiser. Shame that didn't happen too often."**  She tapped a playful finger against his cheek.

She had missed him more than she thought.

Charles groaned and shook his head, then turned to watch Daniel stride into the living room, yawning and mumbling something vague about coffee and breakfast.  **"Hardly. Spent night thinking."**  He paused, then grinned,  **"Surprised. Expected poor response to early morning."**

 **"I spent enough of yesterday passed out."**  With a toothy grin, Evelynn leaned against him and ran her thumb along the broad side of the blade that stuck out from his head.  **"What'd you think about? Was it about-"**  Charles threw her a serious look and she pulled away immediately. She frowned and inhaled sharply, then said,  **"Touched a nerve, I guess. What happened?"**

He began to finger the pendant on the necklace he wore and said nothing for a while. Evelynn watched Daniel pick up the room service menu and heard him grumble something indistinct. He looked up and caught Eve's eyes, then scowled. "Fucking room service is an arm and leg, and Ricard would compress into a diamond out of sheer fucking force of anger if I paid this kind of money for it. We'll head out to a cafe in an hour for breakfast." He tossed the pamphlet aside and grumbled as he set about making himself coffee. Eve caught him mumble, "'Least the coffee's free," when Charles snapped her attention back to him.

 **"Odd decision."**  He let go of the pendant and stared at the door that led out into the hall.  **"Weavile. Vicious. Evil. Lost to me."**  He raised a fist and clenched it.  **"Difficult time. Beat her again and again. Ghost King healed her. Something did. Almost unkillable."**  He punched his fist into his open palm and stood.  **"Drove fist through skull. Felt bone break and brain squish."**

Evelynn put a hand to her mouth and gulped, nauseous.  **"Charles, that's disgu-** "

 **"Didn't kill her. Unconscious. Should have expected it. Was okay with killing her. Too many lives taken. Tried to kill Daniel. Me. Everyone."** He began to pace.  **"King was killed. Karan - the weavile - didn't give up. Lost mind and attacked. Grief, perhaps. No purpose? Was victim of terrible things."**

The zoroark held up her hand.  **"What happened? What terrible things?"**  She gazed intently at Charles, frowning.

 **"Use imagination. No guess too awful,"**  he replied gruffly.  **"Still, no excuse. Too many lives destroyed. Tried to kill us all. But…"**  He crossed his arms.  **"Karan lost. Punched her away. Told her to run. Turned away, back to Daniel, to everyone. Wanted to go home. Thought of liechi berry tarts. Almost smelled them."**  He pulled the necklace off and held it out to Evelynn with a sad smile.

 **"Loud crack. Looked at her, ready to pounce. Face full of rage. Blink. Face full of horror. Knew what happened. Daniel killed her."**  He dropped the necklace into Evelynn's outstretched hands and sat down beside her, staring at the door once more.  **"Watched her scream, cry. Listened to plea for life. Didn't want to die."**  Charles turned abruptly and seized Evelynn's snout, turning her head to look him in the eyes. With his free hand he pointed to each of her eyes in turn and muttered,  **"Watched the lights. Saw them die."**

He let go of the zoroark and put his head into his hands with a frustrated growl and tapped a foot against the floor.  **"Daniel shot her. She had lost. Hadn't killed Ricard - the shade did. She had lost. Tried to kill us anyway."**  He sat back in his seat and looked up at the ceiling.  **"Daniel killed Karan."**

Evelynn frowned.  **"In all the time since that...have you done anything about it? Talked to him about it?"**

Charles shook his head.  **"No. Unsure how to proceed. Karan is complicated. Lost - kept fighting. Daniel made it worse. Won - kept killing."** He growled again and snatched the necklace from the zoroark's hand and held it up to the light.  **"Cat. Why? You lost. Why fight?"**  He threw the necklace bitterly onto the coffee table before them and crossed his arms.  **"Would still be alive. Would not have been killed by Daniel."**

The zoroark picked up the necklace and ran a finger across a bloodied section of the leather pendant it bore.  **"Are you sure about that, Charles? Would Daniel really just let her walk away?"**

The bisharp took the necklace from the zoroark once again and looped it around his neck, then left the room without a word.

* * *

The morning, the cafe, the hollow meandering and monotonous weapon checks of the first half of the day had left Daniel in a state of profound boredom. But now, with the meeting fast approaching, the soaring feeling of anticipation welled up in his stomach. It was now that his optimism would be tested, he figured. He filed out of the bus alongside Charles, Evelynn and several others, glanced up and down the street, then down at the slip of paper with the location of the meeting.

" _Cianwood Seaside Sushi_ … where the hell is it?" he grumbled. His eyes scanned up the street, past countless restaurants and clothing shops, then down the other side of the street as the bus pulled away, past still more restaurants and clothing stores. "Castelia's fucking shopping district can go fuck itself." He made off down the street, beckoning for Charles and Eve to follow him.

The zoroark caught up to his side, sporting a human form with fair skin, dark hair and brilliantly green eyes. Her thin mouth was twisted into a broad smile as she said, "What's wrong with the shopping district? Lots of inspiration here." She pointed across Daniel at a store they passed. "Like that dress.  _Very_  eye-catching." In an undertone, she added, "You humans are always trying to wear as little as possible that can still be considered 'clothed'. Just get naked at that point."

On Daniel's other side, Charles chuckled.

"For an 'ark that's spent so much time in the city, I'd expect you'd be used to it by now," grumbled Daniel, whipping his head around, trying to find the restaurant. "You mind helping me find this fucking place?"

Evelynn laughed. "I am. I'm just making a point. Don't get much opportunity to chat up humans. Unless I'm about to rob them, anyway," she whispered. Daniel turned to look at her and raised an eyebrow. "Not anymore, not anymore. That's the  _old_  Evelynn. The new one is helpful. For instance…" She stopped and jerked her thumb over her shoulder. "We passed that restaurant a minute ago, but you weren't paying attention. Overhang with traditional Johtoan characters on it."

The detective turned about and squinted at the overhang that protruded from otherwise flat facade of the stores. "You're enjoying this, aren't you?" he said at last, his face set in an unamused frown.

The disguised zoroark smiled more broadly and set off. "Let's go, Charles."

Daniel gave a start and said aloud, "How the hell do you know what traditional Johtoan looks like?" Evelynn glanced over her shoulder and flashed him a grin and then faced forward again. He rolled his eyes and picked up his pace, passing them up a moment later. He walked into the restaurant and straight to the hostess and leaned against her podium. She looked affronted, and opened her mouth to speak, but he cut her off with a raised palm and produced a piece of paper. " _Tanaka-sama_. The three of us." He pointed to himself, and then to Evelynn and Charles.

The woman's eyes narrowed and her mouth closed, shaping into a frown. She leaned forward towards Daniel and growled, " _Dare-da_?"

Daniel's eyes flicked down to the paper and then back to the woman. " _Jakkaru wa koko ni iru._ "

The hostess continued to stare at Daniel through narrowed eyes. The corner of her mouth twitched and her gaze drifted to Evelynn and then Charles. "Pokemon are not allowed to be out of their balls in the company of Tanaka-sama."

Daniel leaned forward over the podium and mumbled, "I walk in with Charles free or I walk in with my gun raised.  _Choose one._ " He pulled his jacket open, flashing his pistol in the process, and then covered it once again.

The color drained from the woman's face and her eyes widened. "Y-you're here to k-kill Hideo?"

"No. He summoned me. But you can fuck off with me walking into a gods damned trap without a fighting chance by my side or in my hands. So, if there's a fucking problem, you go tell fucking Hideo I go in like this or I fuck off to my home."

He heard the woman gulp and she nodded and turned to gesture down a hall. "Please, head down that hallway and enter the private room on your right. Hideo has been expecting you."

Daniel nodded and set off, gesturing over his shoulder for Evelynn and Charles to follow. To his left was an open area that sat a variety of serious looking men in dark suits. His eyes scanned frantically across each table, watching for any tells that he was about to be given more holes than he'd ever need.  _Don't you dare fuck me, Hideo. Don't you dare fuck me._

"I recognize some of those guys. Johtoan businessmen. Must be back on business," muttered Evelynn in Daniel's ear.

"Good."

"What do you mean 'good'?" she asked.

"Means they're not here to fuck me. Explain later. Just keep your mouth shut." He stopped in front of the door and smirked as he sized it up. "Charles, door's big enough for the both of us. Dual entry." The bisharp nodded and stood by his side. "Let's go."

They threw the door open, revealing a single man seated at a round table set for three. Tanaka sat before an empty plate and tall glass of water. "Winters! Come in. Close the door, please." He beckoned to him.

Daniel crossed the threshold and pointed at the door. "Get that, please, Eve." The disguised zoroark frowned and closed the door with a sharp snap.

As Daniel made his way to the table, he pulled a chair from another table he passed and set it next to his own. Hideo watched the man adjust the seats at the table to accommodate the new chair with a raised eyebrow. "Daniel. What are you doing? And where's Ana?" he asked quietly.

"Not here. On vacation. Well-deserved one, too. This is Eve. Associate of mine," he explained, gesturing to the woman as she sat down.

"Does your bisharp always sit at the table with you?" asked Hideo, giving Evelynn a single nod before turning back to Daniel.

"Yeah. He does now. More than earned it. Damn well deserves it." He gave Charles a proud smirk and then focused on Hideo again. The bisharp hummed in affirmation.

"I see. Was a bit confused. Thought perhaps a Sinnohan had gotten their claws into you," he said coolly. "It is my understanding that Lumiose is full of them."

"Enough of them." Daniel paused and searched the man's face. Hideo's skin had not weathered the last several years well. Dark circles rimmed his eyes, deep wrinkles marred his face and a nasty scar ran from the corner of his mouth to his right earlobe. "Not all bad, either. By the fucking gods, Tan, you look like hammered shit."

Hideo leaned back in his chair and let out a booming laugh. "I'm alive, that's a damn sight nicer than most of the others. I'll take a shit face and bad scar over no face at all." He patted his protruding stomach and guffawed again. "Besides, I make up for my devilish good looks with positively beautiful body. This last year has been the easiest and most terrifying I've had in this organization, Daniel. I've grown fat with good sushi and steady profits, and now…" He sighed and his smile fell. "And now…  _Morrissey._  The bastard. The disrespectful, self-absorbed, gods damned  _bastard_."

"What's the problem? Why am I even here, Hideo? It's clearly not to shoot the shit. It's not even to fucking eat, there's no waiter here yet."

Tanaka lowered his head and mumbled an apology. "Yes, I know. I did not expect my help to be you, when I reached out to my good brother. I expected...a rejection. I expected him to call me a bastard who had sown his own seeds of failure and was now set to reap a mighty harvest of death."

Daniel's eyes narrowed. "And you got me instead. Big upgrade."

The gangster's brow crumpled and his mouth turned itself into a frown. "Ohh, Daniel - more than a big upgrade. A  _deadly_  one." He shook his head. "We were friends. Then you left, and by the gods, I  _hated_  you for it. You turned tail on this organization, on the jobs we ran. You turned your back on  _me_ , Daniel. My favorite underling. You would have gone far. Unova had a place at many a great table for you. Instead, it had it only for me as you ran off with that hex maniac.

"And now, here I am. Still stunned that I received a call from  _you_  of all people. That  _you_  would be the one to see my request through. That you would be  _my_  savior. Johto's savior. All the  _fucking_  regions' savior."

"Tch. What the fuck are you talking about?" asked Daniel. "And don't go fucking acting like I've already accepted this fucking job. Or that I'm  _your_  gods damned savior, Hideo."

Tanaka reached out and grasped Daniel's hands. "Please, Daniel, please has just left to his private stake of land. You have to find him and kill him before it's too late. But you  _also_  have to get into his building and burn all records of the transaction before you do. Time is of the essence. She cannot run forever."

Daniel wriggled his hands out of his old friend's with a look of confusion. "The fuck? What are you talking about? Who's 'she'? Why the fuck can't you get this to be an inside job? Just fucking pay someone."

"It had to be someone I know wouldn't sell me out. You. The turncoat. I can trust you." He took a deep breath. "The rifle! The ammunition! The vest, everything I told you to procure - you're going to storm a building filled with angry gangsters that know to kill you on sight, all to burn records that should have never existed. Wipe a transaction clean from the books. It cannot ever be allowed to see the light of day."

Daniel opened his mouth to protest, but Hideo cut him off. "Daniel. Daniel, listen to me. You're going to torch those records, delete them, whatever is required. And then you need to get to these coordinates." He pulled a map viewer from his pocket and set it on the table. "And you need to find Morrissey and you need to hunt him down and kill him. It's not enough to set the North Wind free. She must be saved and her future safety secured. You must keep word of this transgression from being traced here to Unova."

"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT, HIDEO?" shouted Daniel.

The man quailed beneath the detective, and his eyes flicked to the door. "He's hunting Suicune. She has been taken, Daniel. Morrissey is a big game hunter. His tastes have become more outlandish with each kill. And now he's done it. By the gods, he's done it, Daniel. She's stolen and running, fleeing a man with all the time in the world as it burns down around him."

Evelynn made a noise halfway between a growl and a gasp and poorly blended it with a cough. Daniel spared her a look of disdain before he said, "How the fuck did he get a hold of Suicune?"

"He's had a team of snatchers combing the regions. There was news in Johto just a few days ago about a shrine going silent after keeping in radio contact with Ecruteak. The bodies of three monks were found hanging from trees deeper in the forest. So now the shrine is deserted - but it was one of the only locations Suicune actually visited; sightings of her racing across Johto are the only other way we know she's still in the region. Once a week or so she'll show herself on the outskirts of a city or town, usually to a small child or an elder before she disappears again.

"She's been here in Unova for about a day, and captured for at least another. In five days or so, she's not going to show up outside a village, and it's going to cause concern."

Daniel leaned back in his chair and and crossed his arms. "And in two weeks they're going to panic, because that's a reasonable thing to do," he scoffed. "Do you really expect the entire Johtoan people to-"

The sound of Hideo's hands slamming into the table rang out in the room. " _Do not pretend you know even an ounce about my people or their ways._ " Daniel stared back at Hideo and sniffed, then gestured for him to continue. "My apologies. I'm on edge. Johto will know soon enough, and it will cause an inter-regional incident. Kanto will smell blood and spring upon Unova for an "unforgivable" breach of trust with its closest brother. The tensions it has with Unova will finally break."

"How? The Kanjohva Pact could smooth this over without an issue." mused Daniel. "Besides, news has been mostly focused on the increased police efforts at combating gang activity here in the city; haven't seen shit about tensions with Kanto."

"Because Kanto doesn't share its reservations about Unova  _with_ Unova. But it  _does_ with Johto, and frankly, none of us give a shit that  _nīsan_  thinks that Unovans are too corrupt and unstable to be in a pact with. The Johtoans are tired of being leaned on, Daniel, and they've made this clear to Kanto recently." Hideo fumbled with something inside of his jacket and removed a pack of cigarettes and a lighter.

With a click and a puff, he pulled the lighter and a smoldering cigarette away from his mouth and continued, "Regional politicking.  _Kuso_ , the lot of it. Look at me, I'm a  _gangster_ , Daniel, here at the top with fine restaurants and a finer life, and I'm going to run away because Morrissey has lost his mind and wants to send my home into a panic. But not before I drive a knife into his back." His breathing had evened out, and with another drag of his cigarette, he looked to Daniel pointedly.

"You mean  _I'm_  going to drive a knife into his back." Daniel pulled the dagger in the small of his back free and drove it into the table. The smell of burning cloth and wood rose into the air and smoke swirled up from the dagger. "Go back to your fucking region and get fat in the country. I don't give two shits about regional politics, I'll give Morrissey a knife in the back because the bastard fucking deserves it and I'm already here."

Hideo regarded the smoking knife with unease and then looked Daniel in the eye. "Please allow me to provide you with transportation, at the very least," he said meekly.

Daniel pulled the knife free from the table and sheathed it. "Fine. Jeep and a transport helicopter."

The Johtoan looked flabbergasted. "You- wha- excuse me? A  _transport helicopter_?"

"I need something to take the jeep in if I want to drive around Morrissey's big ass hunting range." He paused and picked at the edge of one of his fingernails. "It  _is_  a big ass hunting range, isn't it?"

"Well, yes, naturally. It's probably forty square kilometers. But do you really-"

"Yes," interjected Daniel, "I do need that helicopter. A pilot would be nice too. I sure as shit can't fly one. Civilian, preferably. Not trusting a gangster pilot as far as I could kick a geodude."

Hideo sagged in his chair. "Very well." He pulled a phone from his pocket began to flip through his contacts. "I'll have everything set up for your tomorrow. Where are you stay-"

"Leave the car and pilot contact info here. I'm not giving you the hotel address. I'll come knocking to get the keys from whoever would be set to deliver them to me," said Daniel shortly.

"Daniel, please, I'm not out to-"

"No. We used to run together, Hideo, but not anymore. This meeting has been one long heaping of shit on my plate so you and yours can sit comfortably on a throne of stolen hopes and broken families." Daniel stood and gestured for Evelynn and Charles to follow. "I didn't do this as a favor to you. I did it as a favor to a policeman in Lumiose. At least he saw I was a fuck-up trying to course correct." He strode to the door and ushered the disguised zoroark and bisharp from the room. "You don't have to, though, Hideo. You're going to crash right into a ground cushioned with the finest fucking flaaffy wool in all your gods damned region and wait out the end from your comfortable little house in the middle of Bumfuck, Johto."

Daniel stepped through the threshold and partially closed the door, then hissed through the crack, "And you're going to fucking owe me. Expect a call." The door shut with a loud snap, and Daniel left the man and the room to a pronounced silence.


	3. High Rise

Daniel rubbed his eyes and stared at the coffee table in front of him. Loaded magazines, his rifle and pistol and a vest with freshly purchased plates in the carrier pouches laid upon it. The dim light in his living room left their shapes somewhat murky and cast a heavy weight on his eyes. He shook his head and yawned, then slapped his cheek. He needed to stay up as late as possible - the upcoming raid would be an all-night one, and his sleep schedule once he hit the hunting range where Morrissey was at large would be less than ideal.

He stood up and strode into his kitchenette and pulled a bag of ground coffee from a cupboard and began to prepare himself a pot. He glanced at the digital display on the oven. "Four in the morning. Just a few more hours. Just a few more hours." The smell of coffee hit his nostrils and roused the waning energy within him. "Should be good enough to last me to seven."

He couldn't quite pin his difficulty at staying up on anything specific. It used to be so easy to do - even as recently as his time in Kalos. But now, not more than a month or two later, something had changed. A weight had draped itself across his shoulders between then and now, and where it came from, he did not know. He focused back on the coffee pot before him and watched it fill with black liquid and frowned. His past hadn't so much caught up with him as he had caught up with it. He seized the handle of the pot and began to rummage about for a mug.

Perhaps when Morrissey laid dead, he reasoned, now filling the cup with steaming hot coffee, this weight would lift itself from his body. He took a sip. He felt his mouth blister as he drank the coffee down and let out a long, slow exhale. He shifted his shoulders. Perhaps.

"That didn't look smart," came a voice.

Daniel grunted. "Thought you'd be sleeping," he replied, pouring himself another cup.

Evelynn hoisted herself onto the counter and crossed her legs. She wore blonde hair and a translucent nightgown on a delicately shaped figure. Her eyes glowed an unnatural red in the dim light of the kitchen. "I'll have most of tomorrow to sleep. Isn't that why you're still up right now?"

"Stop trying to seduce me," he said abruptly, setting his mug of coffee down hard enough that some of the liquid sloshed out and ran across his hands. He let go of the mug with a swear and shook his hand, sending droplets of coffee sailing through the air.

The zoroark grinned and leaned forward. The nightgown stretched as her breasts grew heavier and she said in a musical tone, "Afraid you'll betray your precious girlfriend for a  _dirty pokemon?_ "

The detective shot her a look that bore so much venom she shrunk away in a flash of light, revealing her regular form.

"I'm tired," he began, stepping towards her. "I'm back in my home region - a place I left to keep Ana safe. A place where, as you already know, I did a lot of  _bad shit_. I'm here to kill my former boss. And I'm about to storm a building filled with angry fucks that know to shoot to kill and don't care if Charles or you are in the way. The last thing I need is some punk fox that's got it in her head she can win me over with fake tits and plastic smiles." He squared up to her and jabbed a finger into her chest. "Understand?"

He returned to his cup of coffee and took another sip. A short silence settled between the two when a small, meek voice said, "I'm sorry." Daniel turned to see Evelynn dressed in dull grey bedclothes and sporting lank black hair. The brilliant red of her irises had given way to dull crimson, and her pallid skin made it clear to Daniel that he had made his point.

"It's fine. Just stop bothering me with it. Your abilities are going to be a hell of a lot more useful against the shitheads we're about to fight," he replied. He set his mug down and furrowed his brow. "You can turn invisible, right?"

The zoroark nodded.

"Can you turn other people invisible?"

Evelynn tapped her chin and shrugged. "Yeah, but I have to basically be riding on their back. Do you want to carry me around or something?"

Daniel looked back into his mug with a smirk and felt the weight on his shoulders lighten. "No." He turned to look toward his rooms where Charles slept in his ball. Evelynn looked from him to the room and then back. She began to shake her head in protest as Daniel said, "I need some foam blade protectors."

* * *

"This is so stupid. I look stupid.  _We_  look stupid. Why did I agree to this?"

Steam rose lazily out of a nearby grate behind the disguised zoroark hanging off his bisharp's back. The shadows they cast in the light of the alley played dramatically against the rising fog and brought a smirk to Daniel's lips. He was still clutching a few excess strips of foam in his hands when he gestured to them and said, "You're going to be invisible, what does it matter?"

Charles grunted and nodded. " **Has a point."**

" **You can keep your mouth shut about this,"**  hissed Eve near where she imagined his ears would be.

The bisharp began to laugh. " **Odd. Expected advances. Not one for when the tables turn?"**  He adjusted his gait to account for the new weight and gave Daniel a gauntleted thumbs up.

"Alright, time for the real shit though," said Daniel, rummaging about in his pocket. As Charles watched his trainer go through his various pockets and pouches, Evelynn let him go and stood beside him, her arms crossed and a pout on her face.

Charles caught movement out of the corner of his eye and turned to look at the driver of the jeep stick his head out of the window and look back at Daniel with a frown. "Are we leavin' soon or what?" he called out. His voice echoed in the alley behind the restaurant they had visited the previous day.

Daniel pulled a small holo-map from a pouch at his side and looked back at the driver with an annoyed grimace. "You're getting paid to drive and fly, not to fucking ask questions."

The driver opened his mouth, then closed it and furrowed his brow. Charles couldn't understand what he mumbled, but the man nodded either way and sat down in the jeep again.

"Anyway, if you look here…" Daniel pointed to the second floor of the forty-floor tower they'd be working their way through. "This is where you'll be entering from. There's a building next door that touches the main tower for a little while on the second floor, and that means plenty of windows to cut through." He pointed to this unusual architectural design decision and then continued, "All of the fighting will probably be concentrated to these floors…" He pointed to the 38th, 39th and 40th floors. "Because the rest of this fucking building is a business front for Morrissey. Stay invisible until you get to the 39th floor. Use the elevator, probably the fastest and safest way to do things. I'm going to clear 38 myself. When you hear the gunfire, you drop the fuckin' hammer on the 39th floor."

Charles looked at Daniel in alarm and shook his head vigorously with a low, gravelly hum. Evelynn too, he noticed, looked concerned. She shifted into what Charles had seen her refer to as her "usual" self - a black-haired woman with blue eyes, red eyeshadow and a loose, dark grey dress. "An entire floor to yourself? That's not exactly...easy, is it? And what about us? We're going to do a floor by ourselves too?"

Daniel rolled his neck. "You'll be running distractions more than anything. You can turn invisible, so use that to your advantage. Keep them confused. Set off sprinklers, drop some smoke grenades or something. I phoned Hideo last night and told him to give us some, they should be in a case in the trunk."

Evelynn cocked her head and glanced at Charles. He replied with a shrug.

"Pull the pin out using the little metal ring and then throw the big cylinder," he explained. "It's not hard. Make lots of noise, flip over desks, obstruct hallways, kill gangsters - whatever it is you need to do to keep those bastards from coming down to fuck with me. Just remember to  _wait for me_. Don't come down for me, understand?  _Do not come down for me._ "

Charles frowned. " **What if you die?"**

Evelynn's gaze flicked between the bisharp and Daniel. "He's got a point, Daniel. What if-"

Daniel put a hand to Charles's shoulder and looked him in the eyes. "I won't." There was a fire behind them that seemed different to the determination and almost grim resolve he'd grown accustomed to in Kalos. Back then, Daniel's eyes, his demeanor - it all seemed so resigned. There was an inevitability - the feeling that the fights they chose were anything but a choice. Now - things had changed. The fire was wild. Daniel was smiling. After two long years in the misery that was Lumiose's  _quartier rouge_ , his best friend was smiling more than he had in all that time. Something within Charles recoiled. It was almost revelry. Perhaps it  _was_.

With a forced grin, Charles nodded back, though he felt his stomach twist into a knot. It was not common for Daniel to do things alone - they always fought back to back, side to side or at the very least in the same room. He looked away from his trainer and let out what he hoped sounded like a confident grunt.

It must have worked, because Daniel patted him again on the shoulder and began patting various pouches on the vest he wore, then turned to the jeep and began to rummage around in the back for the crate that contained the smoke grenades. He pulled it free, threw the top open and handed several to Eve. "See the ring? Just like I said, pull the ring out and throw the cylinder. Easy enough, right?"

The zoroark returned to her fox form and took the grenades, and the small belt to hook them, from Daniel and fixed the belt around her waist. She morphed into her usual human form - the belt remained, though it appeared to phase partially into her body where her waist had expanded out to maintain human proportions.

Daniel frowned. "Always wondered how that worked."

"I guess we really will be invisible as long as I can manage it," she mumbled. "I hate when disguises fall through."

"Alright," he began, taking a deep breath, "Let's get moving." He walked around to the passenger side of the jeep and sat shotgun.

When the other two doors closed with a snap, the driver adjusted the mirror and then turned to look at Charles, then to Evelynn, then to Daniel. There was a long pause, and Charles began to feel annoyed. He growled, and immediately after, Daniel added, "Yeah. He's got a point. Let's get fucking moving."

"Just clarifying, I'm going to be waiting outside until the all clear? What's the all clear signal?"

Daniel gave the man a look that Charles recognized.  _How stupid can you possibly be?_  Charles grinned, even as Daniel explained, "When you see someone flying out of the 40th floor screaming at the top of his lungs, that's your cue to come on up."

The man turned white.

* * *

Charles stalked through the alley with Eve at his side. The smell of garbage drifted through the narrow passage between the buildings and made Eve wrinkle her nose. " **Gods, this place smells** _ **awful**_ **."**  She glanced around and then furrowed her brows at Charles. " **How are we getting up there? Front door was locked and I don't think breaking in would be a good idea."**

The bisharp glanced around and then continued down the alley. " **Need a ladder."**  His eyes scanned the side of the building and then spotted railing around a bend in the alley. He made his way over and glanced up and saw a fire escape with a retracted ladder some twenty feet above him. " **Hrmm."**  He considered the building adjacent to the one they needed to get into and rubbed his hand against the wall. " **Stone. Get on."** He gestured to his back and the extended the blades in his arms.

With some apprehension, Evelynn got onto his back and mumbled, " **Alright. What are you- whoa!"**  Charles launched up and dug a forearm into the wall with a loud crack. Bits of grit crumbled to the ground below, and he began the climb awkwardly up the wall, digging his forearm with some difficulty into the wall and gaining altitude bit by bit. He craned his neck around and glanced at the fire escape. It was several feet below them now.

" **High enough. Jump,"** he panted.

" **Jump!? What? It's like a twelve foot gap!"**  she said in alarm. Her eyes gauged the distance and she frowned. " **I don't know if…"**

With a growl, Charles cut her off. " **Have leverage but not time. Difficult to maintain this position.** _ **Jump.**_ "

" **If I die I'm going to… going to…"** The rest of her statement was cut off as she leapt away from the bisharp and caught the railing. Her chest and stomach slammed into the railing and she let out a mixture of a groan and a cough before she pulled herself up onto the fire escape and laid out on the ground. " **Ohhh gods, that was stupid. Why did I-"**

" **Complain later! Catch me, might miss!"**  snarled Charles, interrupting her. He he pulled his forearm free from the wall and launched himself towards her caught the railing his with his arms. He pulled himself up onto the escape with Eve's help and caught his breath for a moment. " **Good. Very good. Kick ladder down. Need to move up after."**

He ascended up a few flights of stairs on the escape and found himself at a door at the top floor of the building. Below him, he heard the ladder fall and lock. He jumped up and dug his blades into the wall again, and scaled a short distance up onto the roof. He turned about on his stomach and reach his arms out for Evelynn to help pull her up, then got to his feet and glanced around. The roof was largely featureless save for ventilators and A/C units. He made his way over to where the building connected with the one they needed to enter. " **Drop down carefully. Don't want to alert anyone."**  He dropped down and dangled himself from the ledge, then slid himself down top of the connector and crept across towards the window before him.

He heard a loud  _thunk_  behind him and saw Eve flat on her rear with a frown on her face. He gave her a long stare of disapproval before she retorted, " **I don't do this quiet infiltration shit! I use disguises and seduction!"**  Charles smirked and turned back to the glass and peered through it. An empty office greeted him, the lights off and door closed. He used his forearm blade to begin to cut through the glass and kept his eyes focused on the small viewport the door had, waiting for someone to pass by and see him.

After a few minutes of tedious glass-cutting, Charles pushed the roughly-circular slab of glass to the ground where it landed with a soft thud on the carpeted interior. He looked about and nodded to Evelynn to follow after did so, and then the zoroark jumped on the bisharp's back. A moment later, the two had disappeared, and they began the arduous process of winding through an office. Thankfully, only a single janitor seemed to be present, and he was currently vacuuming another office on the other end of the floor.

" **Used up all our good luck getting in, I think,"**  hissed Eve.

The bisharp did not reply - he was too focused listening for the janitor to stop vacuuming and suddenly appear in the halls while also trying to work out where the elevator was. After several wrong turns that left an increasingly annoying string of profanity ringing in his ears from his cargo, he found several sets of double doors with the telltale up and down buttons beside each of them.

He looked between the three sets and was about to ask which to use when Eve hissed again, " **It doesn't matter which, they all do the same thing! Just move!"**

Charles walked as quickly as his clinking feet allowed him to on the marble floor and stepped into the compartment. Eve reached out, her arm becoming a shimmering, multi-hued translucent silhouette as she did, and pressed the button with a 39 on it. The doors closed without incident and she immediately dropped the illusion and let out a long sigh.

" **Okay,** _ **now**_   **we've used up all our good luck."**

Charles rolled his eyes and kept his focus on the doors, replying with a gruff, " **Hardly done much that remarkable. Need to be invisible again soon. No idea how many there are."**  Evelynn groaned and put up the illusion once again as they passed the 37th floor. The bisharp noticed her right foot was twitching and grunted. " **Nervous?"**

" **Nervous? Hell no, I'm-"**  The doors opened, revealing a sight that made Eve catch a gasp in her throat. Long rows of glass walls and elaborate, expensive wooden tables, desks and chairs were laid out before them. Finely dressed men bearing horrific facial scars and visibly armed with pistols, shotguns and submachine guns milled about. Several seemed occupied with reviewing a large ledger, while several others passed documents and manila envelopes about. Eve caught several pudgier men sitting in offices working through stacks of papers and envelopes at computers.

Charles stepped out slowly when a loud, curious ping made him spin to his left in alarm. A fourth elevator he hadn't noticed with far larger doors opened up, revealing a pallet brimming with packages wrapped in plastic, several nondescript yellow envelopes, and a few oddly bulging, black duffel bags.

His eyes strayed towards a sleeping houndoom sitting in an office nearby. It stirred and raised its head with a yawn. A second later, it perked up and stood, sniffing the air and looking about with an intense glare. It stalked out of the room and into the hallway, still sniffing, and then began to make its way towards the two.

" **What do we do?"** mumbled Eve in a noticeably panicked tone. Charles replied with a barely audible hum.

The houndoom stepped ever closer, its insistent sniffing clearly beginning to pinpoint their position. It's cruel stare bore straight through the space where Charles and Evelynn stood and made something very clear to the bisharp.

" **He knows."**  Charles shifted into an offensive stance. Perhaps their good luck had indeed been spent. The houndoom was less than a foot away now, when it stopped, then reared up and growled.

" **Daniel hasn't given the signal yet, if we attack now he'll be-"**

A gunshot rang out from somewhere below them and Charles immediately threw a left-handed uppercut straight into the underside of the houndoom's muzzle. He followed up after with a vicious right-handed swing, and sent it sailing into the wall to his left, where it crumpled to the ground and lay still.

At the same moment, Evelynn unhooked a smoke grenade from her belt and threw it into the center of the room as panic exploded into the air.

* * *

It was a wonder the receptionist had not said anything, reasoned Daniel, his eyes focused on the glowing "37" on keypad in front of him. Perhaps he still looked the part. Or she was intimidated.  _Maybe no one is stupid enough to walk in this armed and not be there intentionally for something important. Hell, maybe she just doesn't get paid enough to give a shit._  His thoughts drifted to Ricard for a moment. If he was here, he could have given him a ring and asked if the police had been sent out.

 _Like the police would really show up to raid Morrissey's fucking tower._  The doors parted, revealing a tired businessman wearing a crumpled suit and bearing heavy stubble on his face. He went pale at the sight of the heavily armed man staring back at him. Daniel stepped out and gestured for him to enter. The fellow responded by backing up against the wall and beginning to sweat profusely.

"I'm not here for you. Relax," said Daniel in what he hoped was a casual tone. "Go home. Best idea you've have had all day." He looked him up and down and added, "Maybe all week. You're a mess."

The man did not move. "W-why are you here?"

With a sigh, Daniel shook his head. "Really? You want to know the answer to that question? I'm here for the folks a floor up.  _Go home._  Don't tell anyone." His eyes flickered down to the rifle in his hands and then back to the man's face. "Understood?"

The man's response took the form of simultaneously mumbling an unintelligible agreement, emptying his bladder, and tripping over his own feet on his way into the elevator. Daniel watched him stumble in and waved him farewell as the man jammed the button to close the door repeatedly.

Daniel turned away from the elevator and made his way to the stairwell near the elevators. He heard a woman gasp to his left and turned to see an office worker stepping out of her office, clutching an empty mug. He put a finger to his lips and said quietly, "No late nights tonight, lady. Head home. Have a cocktail." He paused and shifted his shoulders. "Rethink your employment while you're at it." He slipped into the stairwell without another word, the sound of the woman slumping to the ground, unconscious, at his back.

He took the steps two at a time and stopped outside the door with a red "38" painted on it. Through the tiny window he spied a man in a white suit with a cellphone to his ear, shouting angrily into it. A long section of wall sat behind him.  _Good. They'll have to come from the sides._  He glanced at his watch.  _11:17 pm._ He looked back up through the window.

Daniel caught the flash of the silver pistol tucked away in its holster at the gangster's side, and a second later a lucario walked into view holding a small glass with an amber liquid in its paws. It offered the drink to its trainer and then turned to look directly at Daniel.

The two locked eyes for what felt like a long while. The lucario furrowed its brow several times, and the ghost of an aura appeared at its paws before fading away and then springing to life again, but it seemed to not know if Daniel was friendly or not. Daniel cracked the door and pulled the pin from a smoke grenade free before rolling it across the floor at the lucario. It looked, if possible, even more confused and watched the grenade slide across the floor towards it.

"Bad idea," Daniel muttered. With a loud  _pop_ , the grenade went off and began issuing white smoke. He kicked the door open to the sound of the pop and fired three shots at the lucario, striking it in the chest, neck and cheek, before swinging his aim to the gangster. The man had just enough time to drop his cellphone and reach for his gun before Daniel placed three rounds into his side, chest and arm.

He strained his ears to pinpoint where most of the commotion came from - easier said than done given how much they were ringing from firing in a stairwell, and wagered the bulk of the forces were coming from the right. He ran to the right, tugging another smoke grenade free and tossing it into the room, then pulling another and dropping it at his feet.

He leaned out and was greeted by the seven or so men rushing towards him in a confused panic, half of them accompanied by machoke, arbok or hypno. Some were struggling to stand up after falling over backwards in their chairs, while others tripped over those that had fallen over. His finger flipped the fire selector to automatic, and he dumped the magazine into the crowd.

"HE'S ON THE RIGHT!" rang in his ears over the sounds of men and pokemon bellowing in pain and screaming for help as he fell back to the stairwell to reload.

He remembered immediately after that reinforcements would be coming from above if they managed to get past Charles and Eve, and so, he swore loudly and bolted out into the now thickening smoke and fired in bursts at the amorphous blobs that he could make out in the haze, this time with his pistol. This earned him shouts of confusion and people screaming questions about how many were attacking them, much to his delight.

Something punched him in his back and he fell forward with a shout of pain. The force wasn't what he knew a rifle round felt like, at least. It didn't  _feel_ like the bullet had punched through the plate or cracked any vertebrae either, but he didn't want to risk another shot to his back again. He collected his pistol and scurried on all fours towards a large planter he could just barely make out in the smoke. Bullets cracked into the plaster along the entire length of the wall above and showered him with bits of it every so often. Loud pings of bullets striking the metal elevator doors filled the hallway, and the ringing in his ears became more intense. Of all the things to forget, it had to be earplugs.

A shout of pain and a demand to check fire made its way through the din, and Daniel grinned in spite of himself. They were shooting too recklessly at some unknown force that they hadn't pinpointed.  _Not a bad idea._  He held his gun out from behind the planter and sprayed bursts of fire into the left hand entryway until the magazine went dry. This earned him a single shout of pain and a cry of, "NO, NO, HE'S ON THE LEFT!"

"HOW MANY ARE THERE?"

"CAN'T SEE SHIT!"

"SOMEONE FUCKING  _HELP ME!_ "

Bullets began to slam randomly into the planter as the gangsters returned fire, and Daniel knew it wouldn't be long before his cover completely fell apart as the ceramic chipped and broke away and let the dirt run free. He pulled his last remaining smoke grenade from his vest and took a deep breath. It was difficult - the smoke had begun to become choking, and given the relative lack of coughing coming from the gangsters, it hadn't pushed too far into the office. He pulled the pin and tossed it into the office proper, and with a nearly inaudible pop, it began to fill the rest of the floor with yellow smoke.

He leaned out from his planter and began to aggressively return fire to buy himself enough time to let the smoke fill the office. He dropped several rounds down into the office and then turned to aim down the hallway and squeezed off a few more. Two magazines later he loaded his penultimate into his rifle and then got up into a partial hunch, then let the rifle hang and drew his pistol.  _Good thing Ana's not here to see this brilliant fucking tactic._ He took off at a dead sprint towards the gangsters, barely registering the shapes he ran past, some of them splayed out.

"THE FUCK WAS THAT?"

"THEY GOT PAST US, TURN AROUND!"

"THERE'S FUCKING SMOKE EVERYWHERE."

"FUCK, PLEASE, I'M BLEEDING OUT. HELP!"

The moment the smoke began to thin, he dove behind an overturned, thick wooden table and saw a bloody mess of a man propped against it. A nasty wound just above his left clavicle and another in his left pectoral explained the dead stare into oblivion upon his face. Just past him he saw a machoke laying on its back, its arms clutching at its stomach and groaning softly as a pool of blood inched its way towards the man beside Daniel.

He holstered his pistol and brought his rifle to bear, then peeked out from behind the table and fired several bursts at the more sharply defined blobs in the yellow haze. Several of them fell over immediately, some screaming and others with nothing but a short gag. The few remaining spun about and fired wildly in his direction, splintering the wood of the overturned table, striking glass and plaster somewhere behind him and kicking dust up as bullets struck the ground. He dove into the open door nearby and scrambled behind a heavy wooden desk sitting inside a small office.

Daniel slammed the last magazine for his rifle home and swore to himself.  _Eve and Charles better clear that fucking floor out. I'm not clearing it on just pistol rounds._  He flipped his gun back to semi-auto and peeked around the desk. Four shapes began to form into panting, terrified looking gangsters. One of them glanced down at the machoke and sighed. There was a loud  _bang_ , and the machoke stopped squirming.

The sounds of groans, screams, coughs and cries finally reached Daniel's ears as he watched the men peer about, looking for him.

"Where the fuck did he go?"

"Someone fucking help Roland."

"I'm not a gods damned doctor."

"Roland! Roland, where the hell are you, I can't see shit!"

There was a long silence, and several pleas for help and a few more coughs as the smoke choked the lungs of those still conscious, but a moment later, one of them stepped towards Daniel's office and swore. "He's gone." He turned back to face the rest of his comrades and began, "Sweep these off-"

Daniel rose from behind the desk and fired at the four men. Shouts and screams filled the air and as the first three fell and the fourth took several shots to the stomach. A short spray of submachine gun fire hit a myriad of objects in the office Daniel was standing in. He felt a round connect square in his chest and it sent him reeling backwards into a bookcase.

Thick, heavy books came down upon his head and left stars winking in his eyes, and somewhere far away beyond the ringing in his ears he could hear men groaning and crying out. He shook his head and rubbed a sore spot atop it and moaned. He got to his feet and pulled his pistol free again, then strained his ringing ears to listen for feet stomping towards him from upstairs.

He frowned.  _Had Charles and Eve done it?_  He didn't have time to guess - there was still the 40th floor to clear. He made his way towards the stairwell, his gun at the ready and passed over twitching and moaning bodies. The weakly stirring body of an arbok was splayed out near the elevator, a long trail of blood in its wake, and its massive bulk blocked the door to the stairwell. The cobra expended what looked like a great deal of effort to glare up at Daniel, and it began to open its mouth, its fangs bared. A pistol shot rang out and the pokemon fell to the floor dead, a hole between its eyes now oozing blood.

With a quick glance around to check for any other twitching bodies or possibly someone playing dead, Daniel slipped into the stairwell and started climbing. He checked his watch.  _11:21pm._

* * *

Charles landed with a harsh screeching sound as his feet scratched across the tile floor. He pushed his momentum into an about face and sprung at a machoke's midsection. The rippling muscles and tough skin proved a poor shield against the blades upon his forearms. The cuts were not deep - enough to bleed, but not disembowel. The machoke fell to a knee, clutching its wound and bellowed in pain.

Nearby, his trainer looked around with wild fear alive in his eyes and fired his pistol blindly towards Charles.

The bisharp was already on the move, however, sprinting towards the man and dropped into a slide to collide with his knees. With a loud thump, the man fell face first onto the ground and laid still.

Charles got to his feet, panting, and looked about the room. Unconscious gangsters and pokemon alike littered the room. Tables were overturned and chairs were crumpled against walls and doors as the men had thrown them wildly at wherever they believed the invisible duo to be launching their attacks from.

He turned his attention to the bisharp that had been tracking Charles' own movements far too well. Could it see him? Hear him? His eyes flicked across the entire room once. Ghosts? Something else perhaps? He grimaced and sprinted off towards it, and drew his fist back and readied a punch for its jaw. Whatever it was, it had stayed out of the fight so far…

The enemy bisharp ducked the punch and threw one of its own directly at Charles' stomach. He went flying backwards, and Eve swore.

" **Don't get hit! If I fly off of you, you're dead!"** she hissed as the world around her flipped end over end as Charles attempted to right himself in midair.

With a groan, Charles landed and dropped to a knee, rubbing his stomach. What he imagined was the bisharp's owner looked to have lost his nerve as he surveyed the unconscious men and pokemon strewn about. He shouted, "You're on your own, Urich!"

As the man attempted to spring past Charles, he held his leg out and tripped the gangster, sending him into a nearby bookcase, against which he crumpled and laid still.

Charles grumbled, " **Shut up. Do not let go."**  The zoroark on his back seemed to struggle with choosing between scoffing, beginning a furious rebuttal and sighing, but ultimately settled on the latter of the three.

Carefully and deliberately, Charles inched his way towards the bisharp and nearly kicked himself as he drew close enough to see its face. " **Of course. Blind."**

Urich looked towards Charles with milky eyes and smirked. " **Surprise."**  In a flash, Urich was upon Charles. The zoroark-laden bisharp raised his arms to block, but instead felt a foot sweep his leg out from under him. A second later, a punch collided with his stomach against and sent him into the ground.

Charles could hear Eve whimpering and sniffling in his ear as she attempted to hold back her cry of pain. He might have actually cut her. He rolled onto his hands and legs and launched himself away from the bisharp towards the only undisturbed table. With a harsh whisper, he muttered, " **Get on table. Stay there. Stay quiet. Wait for signal. Are you hurt?"**

Eve dismounted, becoming visible as she did, and sat upon the table. She ran her hands against her stomach and chest - as far as Charles could see, there were no wet patches of blood-soaked fur. She looked up at him and shook her head, whispering, " **I'm ok, I'm ok. Did you say he was** _ **blind?**_ "

Charles clutched the side of his head as a horrible screeching sound met his ears. He wheeled about in time to see Urich sprinting at him, roaring, " **CANNOT HIDE."**

The world began to spin about and with a loud crash, Charles flew head first through the glass window of an office and slammed onto the desk, sending monitors, phones and stacks of papers flying into the air. Another screech of grinding metal met his ears and he looked up from the desk he laid upon to see Urich jump up and land on the windowsill. " **Cannot see. Faster for it."**

The desk crumpled into splinters as Charles watched Urich drive his fist into it from above. He had only just managed to roll off the desk and out of the office. Panting, he shouted, " **Can see. Better for it."**

Urich got to his feet and snarled in Charles' direction. Another screech of metal grinding against metal hit his ears, but this time Charles was ready. Right as Urich opened his mouth to shout, he launched himself towards the bisharp and drove his fist into his jaw. He dropped low and swept Urich's legs out from under him and then kicked him against the back of wall of the office.

Another screech and Charles felt a hand seize his leg and yank the world out from under him. Urich jumped upon him and began to slug him across the face with one punch after the other, sending his head whipping sharply back and forth. Charles blinked stars from his eyes and held a hand up in a daze to catch Urich's fist. A mass of energy slammed into the bisharp's head and sent him toppling off his body.

Charles kipped up, wobbled a moment, then caught his balance and turned to face Urich. The milky-eyed bisharp bore a snarl on his face and looked vaguely in the direction Eve had thrown the blob of dark energy. Charles connected with his midsection a moment later and tackled Urich to the ground, then drew his arm up and brought a stiff chop down into the center of Urich's face. There was a loud crack and the groaning of tearing metal, and the bisharp laid still.

Panting, Charles got to his feet and rubbed his cheeks and stomach before looking over to Evelynn. " **Alright?"**

The zoroark looked back with an expression that bore equal parts worry and fear and nodded. " **Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine."**  She composed herself and strode over to him - Charles noted the exaggerated sway in her hips and swagger in her demeanor and shook his head. " **Looks like I saved your ass, huh?"**

The bisharp looked down at his opponent for a moment and then rolled his neck and sighed. " **I can smell the fear coming off your body."**  He stretched his arms and legs and then turned to Eve. " **No need for the act."**

" **Excuse me, I'm just fi-"**  Evelynn stopped abruptly and her eyes went wide. " **I don't hear anything coming from downstairs."**  Charles sprinted to the stairwell without so much as a look back.

He had barely made it into the stairwell proper when he saw Daniel, pistol raised, stalking up the stairs. His trainer looked back at him with a smile and said, "Work just as fast as I do, eh?" Charles smirked, and fell in behind Daniel.

From the door to the stairwell a voice said, "The foam was a good idea." Charles looked over at Evelynn, standing in her typical human form with her arms cross and a small pout on her face.

"Was it now? I thought you said it looked ridiculous," replied Daniel.

"It did. But it was a good idea. Let's go."

* * *

Daniel stepped out onto the 40th floor and frowned. Nothing but a long hallway that led to a set of polished mahogany double doors awaited him. If anyone was going to be defending the files he had to destroy, they would be holed up beyond those doors. He sidled up to the door and gestured for Charles and Eve to stack up on the other side. He gave the bisharp a nod, and the two kicked the door in simultaneously, revealing a lavish office. Gleaming walnut floors led up to a massive black granite desk and plush leather chair. Bookshelves, paintings and various pieces of historical arms and armor lined the walls, and a soft rug trailed from the desk to the doors.

A head peeked over the desk and then a rifle came into view and sprayed bullets down the hallway towards them. Daniel got back into cover and swore loudly. "Hop up on Charles again Eve. Get in there."

The zoroark crossed her arms. "His protectors have fallen off. I'm going to get cut up," she huffed.

With a groan, Daniel pulled his tactical vest off and tossed it at her. "Put that on. It'll do the job." Eve did as she was told and jumped on Charles' back once again. She looked to Daniel and nodded.

"On three then," he called out over the din. He fired his pistol blindly into the room and shouted, "Three!" He peeked back into the room and fired the rest of his magazine into the room before pulling back and reloading. He hoped the meager covering fire would be enough for the two pokemon to get close enough to whoever was behind the desk to stop him. He counted to ten in his head and then chanced a peek into the room. He saw the figure behind the desk lifted into the air and thrown across the room towards Daniel.

He rushed into the room and pointed his pistol at the man before him as he struggled to his feet. He was dressed in a wrinkled suit and a light magazine carrier, and the look he gave Daniel as his eyes flicked from his pistol to his face was full of fear.  _Good. Should be easy enough to find out what's going on._

"Alright, hands where I can see them. Now," he commanded. The gangster complied at once. "Good. Now, where the fuck do you keep records for all your trans- oh fuck it. Where the hell did you stick the documents for the purchase of suicune?"

The man went white. "Wh-what? How do you know about that?" He yelped and backed away several paces when Daniel responded by firing at his feet.

"Questions come from me. Where the fuck did you put that glorified receipt?" commanded Daniel, aiming his pistol menacingly at the man's shins.

The man looked over his shoulder and pointed at the desk. "We've got it saved. I can get you a print out. A-A digital copy, whatever you want just… please. Just take it and go."

Daniel shoved him forward. "Get fucking moving then," he barked. "No funny shit, you hear me?"

The man nodded and made his way to the desk. He eyed Charles and Eve uneasily and then looked to Daniel. "Why were they invisible?" The detective replied by leveling his pistol at the man's head and clearing his throat. With a cry of panic, he began to tap away at the keyboard on the desk and clicked his way through folder after folder filled with documents.

"Surprised you actually keep such extensive records," mumbled Daniel, scanning the names of the documents that whizzed past the gangster scrolled through folders.

"Got it, got it. Here let me load this onto a thumb drive…" He pulled open a drawer and dug around inside it, then turned suddenly towards Daniel and thrust a knife at him.

Daniel dropped his pistol and caught the man's wrist. He grit his teeth as he felt the blade cut across his palm. He was only just fast enough. The two lapsed into a struggle over the blade while Charles and Evelynn looked on, unsure how to engage.

"Guess you're the signal!" roared Daniel. He drove a foot down into the man's instep to the sound of a loud crunch and crack. The gangster dropped the knife and began to scream in pain, but it caught in his throat as Daniel brought his hand to it. He forced the man back towards the nearby window, then lifted him and slammed his against it. The degree to which it cracked left Daniel wondering how many of his bullets had struck it. He slammed the assailant against it again, and the cracking grew more pronounced.

The man shook his head insistently at Daniel, his hands futilely groping at Daniel's hand, trying to wrench it free from his throat. With a shout, the detective drove the man into the glass one more time, breaking it completely and releasing him as the window gave way. The scream of terror faded away quickly and Daniel turned back to Eve and Charles. The two gawked at him with terrified looks plastered on their faces as Daniel turned to the computer and began to root about for record of the transaction for suicune. It took several minutes, but after changing his search term from "suicune" to "northern wind", a series of communications with an unknown third party came up. None of them actually were a record of a transaction, just talks discussing prices. The final document, however, had a short alphanumeric string: C-B4.

"The hell does…" Daniel looked around the room and spotted a series of metal filing cabinets tucked side by side between two bookshelves. He strode over to them and each drawer was labeled horizontally and vertically using sequential letters. "C-B4… there it is." He tugged the drawer open and began to leaf through the documents filed away inside.

"Was that- was that necessary?" asked Evelynn somewhere behind him.

Daniel tossed a stack of papers onto the cabinet and pulled a fresh stack out. "What? Yes. He pulled a knife on me." He didn't look up from the papers as he continued, "Don't fucking pull a knife on me like I'm not going to fucking kill you for it." He tugged several papers free and let out a cry of triumph. "Got them. We'll be holding onto these. Hopefully there aren't any copies."

"But to throw him out a window?" pressed the disguised zoroark, stepping towards him.

Daniel turned towards her, a thin frown on his face and his brows knit. "What do you fuckin' suggest? That I just disarm him? He was scum of the earth, and he got treated as such. Shit ain't hard to understand. Tell her, Charles." He glanced at the bisharp as he folded the documents up and gestured for Eve to give him back his plate carrier.

The bisharp stared back at his trainer for a long while before shaking his head and turning his attention to the open double doors at the other end of the room.

"What? Don't tell me you think I should've been soft on him, Charles. He was trying to fucking kill me," insisted Daniel. His pokemon glanced back at him and gave him a curt nod, but turned his attention back to the entryway immediately after.

"Fuck it, no time to discuss this here. We'll sort this shit on the helo," decided Daniel. He tucked the folded papers into the large cargo pocket on his pants and pulled the carrier back on. "Get to the roof. I'll be up shortly. Gotta take care of something first." He dug around in his pocket and pulled a lighter free.

With a sigh, Evelynn followed after Charles as the bisharp gave Daniel another curt nod and set off without a word.

Daniel opened each of the drawers, pulling a paper free each time, lighting it on fire and dropping it back into the drawer afterwards. Once he'd dropped a burning paper into each of the drawers in the filing cabinets, he returned to the desk and tugged the computer tower sitting in a small cubby free, yanking wires out indiscriminately before laying the tower across the table and pulling one of the sides off. He tugged the solid state drive from it free by undoing a few screws with the multi-tool he had tucked away in his vest. He slipped the drive into the same pocket he kept the papers in and made his way towards the helipad.

Halfway up the stairwell towards the pad, the fire alarm began to ring, and he started to take the steps two at a time. He emerged on the roof in time to see a transport helicopter descending on the pad and the pilot waving at the trio. It had not properly touched down before Daniel was already inside, sitting down in the front beside the pilot.

There was a short, awkward pause between the pilot and Daniel as Evelynn and Charles got into the helicopter and closed the sliding doors, and as they pulled away the pilot cleared his throat and said shakily, "So, uh, I guess, uh…"

Daniel looked out at the glittering lights of Unova shrinking below him as the helicopter ascended. "Yeah. I wasn't kidding about the signal."


	4. Tango Uniform

Daniel rubbed his face and glanced out of the cockpit window. "What the fuck was that back there, Charles?" He turned about in his seat and glanced into the cavernous rear of the copter. The jeep stored in the transport rocked slightly to and fro, straining against the straps that bound it in place. He saw his bisharp pull on a strap and sigh then turned to face him.

The series of grunts that growls that followed were incomprehensible, and yet, combined with the intermittent sighs, the tired look on his friend's face, and the occasional gesturing directly at Daniel and then out of the helicopter towards their destination, he understood. Somewhat.

"What, you think I was too harsh on that fuckface back there?" asked Daniel, incredulous.

Eve, who had remained silent until now, shuddered and drew her hands to her shoulders as she shapeshifted into her meek red-headed self, inching away from Daniel a bit as she said, "Yes. And I'm pretty sure he doesn't think, I'm pretty sure he  _knows_. As do I. What was that other than pure brutality? Was it really necessary?"

"Have to agree with the lady." added the pilot, glancing at Daniel for a moment. "A flare would have been fine."

"You get back to fucking piloting, I didn't ask for your gods damned opinion." snapped Daniel before turning to face Eve and Charles again. "Of course it was necessary. That motherfucker was going to kill me. You'd rather I play nice and let all of us get fucked up?" He pointed at the disguised zoroark and narrowed his eyes, "Because they're got a special place for your kind if he'd gotten the better of me and Charles. There's a whole fucking region that's just waiting for something like you to roll along."

The zoroark grimaced and tried to sink into her seat, her human form dissolving away back into her actual body. A low whine and short series of growls met Daniel's ears and he shook his head. "That's what I thought." He watched Charles sit back in his seat and closed his eyes and added, "Nothing more to say?"

The bisharp opened a single eye and looked towards Daniel. A single grunt sounded out over the din of the helicopter and he pointed vaguely in the direction of their destination before closing his eye again and seemingly drifting off to sleep.

The detective turned about in his chair and pulled his headset back on and frowned.  _Brutal? Really? Fucking fox is giving Charles cold feet. Or something. I know gunshots aren't exactly subtle or gracious, but outright brutal? He's sliced thugs in half without a second thought before, why choose now to get all morally conscious? What changed?_  He sat up in his seat and began to swap the armor plates out of his rig, his mind still pacing.  _Maybe it isn't Eve. He was like this before. Back in Lumiose. What changed there-_  A loud, insistent beeping filled the cockpit alongside the sounds of cracking glass and dull thuds.

"Are we being fucking shot at?"

The pilot wrenched the flightstick to the right and then the left, sending the helicopter rocking back and forth. Behind him, over the din, Daniel heard an ominous snap as one of the restraints on the jeep broke.

In frenzied disbelief, the pilot shouted back, "What do you think?" He pushed the helicopter into a dive and the canopy of trees below them came dangerously close. More gunfire racked the fuselage and shattered one of the windows completely, inviting a rush of howling wind into the cockpit as the chopper streaked through the sky. Several more cracks and thuds echoed in the compartment as fresh holes opened around their feet and exploded open in the ceiling. The heli rolled hard to the right and the insistent beeping coming from the instrument panel told Daniel the maneuver was ill advised. The turbulence rolling through the vehicle as it groaned and strained to right itself brought with it another ominous snap from the rear compartment, along with alarmed shouts from Charles and a cry of fear from Eve.

"Can't you put us down somewhere?" shouted Daniel over the din. Sparks crackled out of the instrument panel before him and smoke began to issue from it.

"Do you not see all these fucking trees?" cried the pilot. "This bird ain't meant to crash into them!"

"We're gonna fucking die up here!" he screamed back. He glanced around, his eyes straining to look past the canopy that was growing closer to their underside with each second. "There!" He gestured furiously at a clearing they could just begin to make out. "Put us down there!"

"We're still being shot at!" A loud sputter, a groan and a clang filled the cockpit. "Fuck!" More crackles of electricity and several red lights began to flash in the cockpit, and a constant  _woop-woop_ sprang to life over the din. "Got an engine down, we'll be lucky if we make it that fa-"

Several bullets tore through the floor and the pilot began to convulse in his chair as gunfire peppered his legs and rear. Several rounds burst out of his chest and he slumped forward onto the flightstick and pushed the heli into a nosedive towards the ground. The  _woop-woop_  in the cockpit almost immediately doubled in speed and Daniel threw himself towards the now lifeless pilot and pushed him off the stick, then wrenched it back. The nose of the craft began to pull up and he heard loud thumps and cracks alongside groans of metal and the snapping of branches as the helo tore through the canopy of the wood below. The controls stiffened in his hands and then the entire aircraft began to pitch about. A loud terrible groan of metal shearing apart rang throughout the cockpit and then a rush of air greeted Daniel. The roar of the motor was replaced with the howl of wind.

He snapped his restraints on and screamed back, "WHAT THE FUCK-" His jaw dropped at the sight of a tremendous hole in the craft. The rotors, the motor attached to them, along with perhaps half of the ceiling had been torn completely away. He saw Eve and Charles both clinging desperately to the handlebars on their seats.  _This was it_ , he thought helplessly,  _This is how we die._ Something hit the side of the helicopter and they began to spin like a bullet through the forest. He heard more heavy-duty restraints snap.  _How many did the jeep even have left?_  He shouted, partially in fear, partially in anger, and largely because he felt there was nothing left to do but.

The sounds around him disappeared and he turned back to look out of the cockpit window in had made it through the forest. There was the clearing. And there was the ground.

* * *

Something warm and fuzzy had hold of his face. It tickled his nose and smelled familiar.  _Nuvema Single-Malt Whiskey. Haven't had that in forever…_  He could picture the shot glass filled with the amber liquid perfectly. It burned going down and had an aftertaste to match. Reminded him of the kind of smoky taste you got from meat fired over maplewood. But it tasted like caramel. Sweet, silky caramel. Charles hated it too, strangely enough. The fuzzy feeling on his face shook his head too and fro, and then he felt his entire body being shaken. Someone was shouting - no,  _growling and yipping_. The smell of burning fuel overtook the smell of whiskey in an instant, and then his eyes flew open.

He sat bolt upright and hit his head against something fuzzy again, and was met with a loud yelp of pain and an incomprehensible growl. Eve's form came into focus in front of him and beyond her he could see Charles cutting the last of the restraints loose from the jeep. "Sorry, I'm up. I'm up. Why the fuck are you still a fox?" groaned Daniel, getting to his feet.

Eve held a hand up to Daniel and pointed at it insistently. Her fingers were shaking.

"Shock?"

The zoroark nodded once and then pointed at the jeep. An inquisitive growl met his ears and Daniel began to dig around in his pockets. "Yeah, keys are here somewhere. This thing take any hits?"

An indistinct grunt came from Charles. It was clear neither of the pokemon were sure. "We can check later." He pulled his vest on and pulled his rifle and ammunition free from a compartment in the wall of the helicopter. "Thank the gods this shit didn't get torn out." He tossed the ammo crates into the back of the jeep and gestured for the pokemon to get in.

"Let's get going. If we're leaking oil or gas we'll know soon enough." He wrenched the door to the jeep open and buckled himself in, then thrust the key into the ignition and turned the engine over. It purred to life without issue and he breathed a sigh of relief. "At least one fucking thing went right." He backed the jeep out of the ruined backend of the helicopter. The vehicle rocked about as it rolled across uneven terrain and torn metal alike, then peeled out and shot off into the open plains before Daniel.

He took several deep breaths and then looked at Eve, who morphed into a pale, thin redhead with lank hair. Dark circles sat beneath her eyes and the deep red in her cheeks betrayed an intense discomfort. She turned to Daniel and gaped at him, her mouth opening and closing soundlessly before she took a deep breath and then struggled out, "What the fuck even just happened?"

"Sounds like your girlfriend's never survived a helo crash, eh, Charles?" asked Daniel, turning back to look at Charles for a moment with a smirk. The bisharp rolled his eyes and looked out at the passing scenery.

"Oh, like you deal with this shit on a daily basis, huh?" she replied, firing up at once.

"I get shot at with some frequency, so yeah, I'd say helo crashes aren't too big a deal," reasoned Daniel. He glanced behind him to check for any pursuers. "You'd think we'd have someone on our tail. Doesn't seem like anyone gives a fuck though." He threw Eve a sideways glance before looking back at the expanse of gently rolling grass before him. "Didn't expect shock to be that much of a problem for you."

"We almost  _died_ , what did you think would happen? It's hard to focus when you've got  _the end_  waved in front of your face like it was back there," huffed Eve. She sat back in her seat, her arms crossed and her face set into a frown. "Not something I'm really happy about getting to know."

"Get used to it." His tone was gruff, perhaps even harsh, but it was the truth. "You were already in the shit once back in that building with Charles. It's not gettin' any easier from here out."

"I've been deeper "in the shit" than you think, Daniel." The zoroark fell silent, morphing back into her usual form and gazed out the window.

For a moment, the detective drummed his fingers on the steering wheel and then shrugged. "Alright, what?"

The zoroark turned to look at him and raised an eyebrow.

"What kind of shit? Let's hear that pedigree of yours. Maybe it'll make me feel less uneasy about bringing you along."

Eve shook her head once and looked back out the window. Out of the corner of his eyes, Daniel saw her draw her mane of hair across her lap and fiddle with the golden ring she had looped it through. He made an indistinct noise in his throat and stared ahead.  _No use pursuing that topic for now._  His eyes flicked to the rearview mirror and then back through the windshield.  _Where the hell are our tails? No one's interested in investigating a helicopter crash? They were all too fuckin' happy to blow us out of the gods damned sky a minute ago. Something has to be going on…_  He fished about in his pocket for his phone and dialed Hideo.

A voice in his ear coughed once and then rasped, "Daniel?"

"Where the fuck am I even going? There's an awful lot of fuck all in this preserve you sent me off to. Trees, flat lands, soft hills… anything distinguishing I can follow along? Any rivers moving north/south or east/west?"

There was a pause and then the voice on the other end of the line said, his tone unsure, "Well, I believe there's a sizable river that runs from the east to the west you could follow. If I'm not mistaken, Morrissey had a retreat of sorts near the edge of his territory..."

Daniel glanced at the compass readout on the dashboard.  _North by northwest._  "I don't remember flying past one, but given the rough landing, maybe it's possible that we passed by it… Would the river appear on a map?"

"Er, probably, yes, but did you say rough landing?" asked Hideo, his voice tense.

"Yeah. Might want to call that bastard's missus, if he has one. Give her my condolences. And sorry about your helo."

"Wait, what happened?"

"Gotta go, dangerous to split my attention any more than I already have." Daniel hung up and tucked his phone away, then said to the two pokemon in the jeep, "Keep your eyes open for a river. We'll try to use that for navigation." The jeep crested a hill and then began to speed down towards a patch of land bearing a wide strip of rocky soil, darker and looser than the rest and bearing the unmistakable signs of a river. "What the fuck happened here?"

He threw the jeep into park and dismounted, his rifle at the ready and his head swiveling about. There was little substantial vegetation here apart from the somewhat tall grass. He crept closer to the riverbank and knelt down to pick a few rocks from what was once a riverbed. They were mostly dry, though a few further down were moist, even wet.

"The river's just...gone." He turned back to Eve and Charles, his face plastered with confusion. "What the hell happened?"

Evelynn walked over and crouched down, morphing into her usual human form as she did. She picked through a few of the rocks and then shrugged. "I don't know. There's supposed to be a river here right? It looks like this was a river… Why dry out a river?"

"Whatever the reason is," replied Daniel, standing up, "doesn't matter right now. We'll follow this and see if we hit the retreat. If we don't, we'll just turn around and follow it to the other side.

* * *

Morrissey tilted the brim of his hat down to shield his eyes and smiled down at the weakly growling dog glaring back at him from her cage. "Beautiful. Absolutely beautiful." He made his way down a short flight of stairs and strode up to the cage to look Suicune in the eyes. "You're gonna look fucking magnificent after I stuff you. Was thinking a dead sprint, really sell the whole "northern wind" angle, you know? Should set off the whole room nicely." He straightened up and signaled to an attendant to open up the sliding gate to the room. "Get her loaded up and drive her into the center." He turned his attention back to Suicune and smirked. "You're gonna get one hour to try to hide. Maybe a little less if you don't get those tranquilizers processed fast enough" Morrissey licked his lips and snapped his fingers.

A small crane arm lifted the cage up and loaded it onto a waiting truck. A second later, its engine roared to life and the smell of exhaust burned Morrissey's nose. He tapped three times on the bed of the truck and gestured for the truck to move out. As it pulled away he shouted at the retreating vehicle bearing his quarry, " _Try_  is the operative word here!"

"Sir, I have some urgent news for you," came voice next to Morrissey. The gang leader turned, the expression upon his face matching the disinterest in his voice. "Uh, we caught sight of a helicopter crossing into your airspace. Transport helicopter. Didn't reply to our hails, so we've been trying to shoot it out of the sky."

"And? Why the fuck does this matter? Blow it up and leave the bodies for the fire like you always would. Why even bother telling me this garbage?"

The henchman averted his eyes and stammered out, "W-well s-sir, it's because the helicopter is the same one that was reported as leaving your tower after that attack on it."

"Then the retard that thought picking a fight with Dylan Fucking Morrissey is the key to a long life is now bringing himself to my own private piece of land to be fed his fucking balls, isn't he? Blow the fucking helicopter out of the sky and devote a small team to finding and capturing him. Nothing bigger than ten men. I want everyone else on the borders making sure my prize doesn't try anything fancy."

"R-right away sir. I'll get men on the task at once."

As the man retreated away, Morrissey turned to another and barked, "Get the jeep fueled and extra ammo packed away. This is gonna be the longest gods damned hour of my life."


End file.
